“He isn’t my type.”
That made him ask, “Am I your type?”
She released another chuckle. “Trust me. If you hadn’t been my type, we would never have gone out on a date.” She stopped in front of a Chevy Malibu. “This is my new ride.”
It wasn’t all that new, but it was a newer model than the one she had the last time he’d walked her to her unmarked police car. Hard to believe it had been six months ago. “So what do you plan to eat tonight?”
She shrugged. “Not sure. All I know is that I didn’t want to say inside there any longer.”
“I understand.” Seeing her, standing in front of her now, made him own up to just how much he’d missed her. How was that possible when he had just seen her this morning? She had awakened in his arms. Shared a shower with him. Walked him to the door and then plastered a kiss on him that still made his toes tingle. When he’d left she’d not given him any idea of when she would see him again. Only that when would be on her terms.
He had thought about her a lot today. But then, it had been that way since meeting her. And now that he’d slept with her, had been inside her body, had tasted her inside and out, she was becoming an addiction he didn’t need. One he didn’t want. But it might be too late to do anything about that now.
“Well, thanks for walking me to my car, Stonewall.”
“Anytime.” And then, because he wasn’t ready for her to go yet, he said, “I’ve got an idea.”
She lifted a brow. “About what?”
“Food. Follow me home and I’ll fix you something.”
She stared up at him as if considering his offer. His heart began beating faster. Joy was an intelligent woman, and there was no doubt in his mind that she knew that he wanted to do more than fix dinner for her.
Even now, just standing here in the parking lot beside her car, there were sparks going off between them that neither could ignore. “And just to be clear, Joy, I won’t be invading your space. I’m letting you invade mine.”
She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, I’ll let you feed me. What’s on the menu?”
“It’s a—”
“—surprise. Right.” She smiled and looked down at her hand, the one he was still holding. Then she glanced back up at him. “You know how much I dislike surprises. But...”
“But what?” he asked in a low tone.
“So far none of your surprises have disappointed me.”
A smile curved his lips as he pulled her closer. “And I intend for it to always be that way.”
He then lowered his mouth to hers to share the kiss he’d desperately wanted since seeing her tonight. The moment his tongue touched hers, a deep throb erupted in the pit of his stomach while at the same moment, an intense flare of heat shot straight to his loins. No other woman could make him want her so quickly. Desire was clawing inside him, and he was aware of her in every cell of his body. Tasting her was always something he looked forward to, but it was becoming more than that. It was becoming a need. He didn’t like the thought of that. The only thing he needed was his freedom and to live a life that made him happy on his terms. A life in which he appreciated each single day and didn’t worry about tomorrow because it wasn’t promised.
When he broke off the kiss, he drew in a deep breath. It took him a while to get his bearings. The woman was too damn luscious for her own good. “Do you want to leave your car here and ride with me?”
“No. I’ll follow you,” she said softly.
“Okay.” He couldn’t help the way his pulse was thumping in anticipation. He would make sure this night was one she’d always remember.
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, you might have given something away?”
Oliver Effington drew in a deep frustrated breath. “Damn, Anderson, you don’t have to yell. What I mean is that I let it slip I knew Mandy Clay had golden-blond hair. All I could think of while talking about her was the first time I saw her, that night she’d been brought to the holding compound. All that beautiful blond hair. It was only later I remembered the picture in the paper was a sketch, not a photo.”
“Well, you better hope they overlooked what you said.”
“I hope so. Audrey is wondering why I’m so upset about the police visit. Of course I made it seem like it was because of what happened to that poor innocent girl, playing on her sympathy. If she knew I had anything to do with—”
“She won’t know if you don’t tell her. Your wife has such a bleeding heart. She’d probably go straight to the police and turn you in.”
Oliver didn’t think she would go that far, but Anderson was right. His wife was too softhearted and doted on the surrogates. Considered them family. She would have convulsions if she ever found out there were surrogates she didn’t know about. Surrogates being forced to have babies against their will. “What about Dr. Langley?” he decided to ask.
“Like I told you, she’s being taken care of.”
“I hope nothing is linked back to us. She does recommend clients to my agency.”
“As well as all the other surrogate agencies in town. Relax. There won’t be any reason for the cops to get suspicious of anything. The person I hired is a pro,” Anderson said. “The plan is already in place.”
Oliver stood when he heard the sound of Audrey turning off the water in the shower. “I hope so. We don’t need any slipups.” He didn’t want to think that he might have made a major one tonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“NICE PLACE, STONEWALL.” Joy took in the modern furnishings with several pieces of curvature art around the room. The walls were brick and the high ceiling was flanked by several dark oak beams. To her the beams offset the wooden floor below that was done in a golden pecan.
He lived in what used to be a warehouse, one that had been transformed into three separate living quarters. They’d parked on the side of the street, and on the walk to the private elevator, he’d told her that he’d bought the entire warehouse a few years ago. Over time he had renovated it and kept the entire space on the third floor but leased out the first and second floors.
Stonewall told her he rarely saw his tenants, and they rarely saw him. That’s the way he wanted it. A single woman lived on the first floor and a married couple on the second. He thought purchasing the warehouse had been a good investment and didn’t regret doing so. In fact, he shared that he also had rental property in Magnolia Oaks, the area where his grandmother lived.
“Make yourself at home, and before you ask, the answer is no. None of what you see reflects any decorating ideas of mine. I hired someone to do it for me.”
“Well, she did a nice job,” Joy said, easing her Glock from the waistband of her slacks and placing it on a nearby table.
One wall in his home was completely glass and showed downtown Charlottesville. She could see plenty of businesses with their blinking signs. Because of the wide window, she bet during the day the entire room was filled with sunlight. “This place would spoil me,” she said.
“How so?” he asked, moving around the room and turning on several lamps.
“It’s feels so welcoming and relaxing.”
“So is your home. It has a vintage charm about it. We have different tastes in style, but we both managed to make our homes comfortable for ourselves.”
“That’s true,” she said, smiling over at him and thinking just how good he looked tonight in a pair of khakis and T-shirt. “You need help with anything?”
“No. While I’m in the kitchen, I invite you to look around.”
“Thanks. Don’t mind if I do.”
“What about something to drink?” he asked, heading for the kitchen. His house was laid out in an open concept so she could see straight to the kitchen from his living room. There was huge eat-in area in between.
&nb
sp; “No, I’m okay.” Already she was moving away from the living room area toward the rooms on the other side. The first one she came to was a room where she figured he spent a lot of his time. What looked to be an eighty-inch flat screen hung on one of the walls and a desk with a small laptop faced another. There was a comfy-looking long sofa that was perfect to accommodate the length of his frame. Instead of a coffee table, in front of the sofa was a huge wooden trunk.
She moved into the room to study a huge framed photograph that hung on the wall. It was that of a group of men at a wedding, and the groom in the center was Sheppard Granger.
“I know you said that you didn’t want anything to drink, but I wanted you to taste this.”
She turned as Stonewall entered the room carrying a glass of something that looked like iced tea. “What is it?”
“Granny Kay’s apple cider.”
He handed the glass to her, and she took a sip. It was delicious. She took another sip. “This is good, Stonewall. I like it.”
A smile tilted his lips. “Most people do. Whenever she makes it, she gives me my own pitcher.”
“Aren’t you lucky?” she said, taking another sip. She then turned back to the picture she’d been looking at when he’d entered the room. “I take it this is Sheppard Granger’s wedding day.”
“Yes.”
“There are a lot of groomsmen.”
Stonewall had come to stand beside her. As usual, heat was emitting from him to her. “No, all of us were his best men. A little over twenty of us, including his sons.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Yes, and all the men whose lives Shep turned around at Glenworth and Delvers. A lot us went back to school to get college degrees, and others have become business owners. We have a couple who have even ventured into politics.”
Joy took another sip of her cider. She had learned that Sheppard Granger had been transferred to Delvers, a prison that housed less-serious offenders, after ten years at Glenworth. While at Delvers he’d worked closely with the warden to ensure that the less-serious offenders didn’t become serious offenders in the future. “It’s amazing how one man could turn so many people’s lives around. I saw him on a few of the talk shows he went on after his release. As a member of law enforcement, I agree with what he says about needing to overhaul the criminal justice system.”
“So do I. And Shep’s an amazing man. He touched a lot of people’s lives while confined. He gave us a reason to hope. To believe we were better than where we were.”
He checked his watch. “Go ahead and finish your tour of the place while I get the grill started.”
“Grill?”
“Yes.” Without saying anything else, he walked out, leaving her alone again.
Joy went back into the hallway that connected to two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bath she figured were for guests. At the end of the hall was a larger bedroom where she figured he slept.
And where she would be sleeping tonight.
There was no doubt in her mind that Stonewall’s invite to dinner was also an invite to spend the night. She’d had no qualms about accepting both. The sexual chemistry between them was stronger tonight than ever.
She glanced into his bedroom. It was huge. Nice furnishings that included a king-size bed and decor in colors of black and chocolate brown. From the doorway she could see into his huge master bath, but her gaze wandered back to the bed. It was made up and neat as a pin with a masculine look. There was no doubt she wouldn’t be the first woman to spend the night in that bed and she wouldn’t be the last. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. What he did in that bed and with whom were not her concerns and she didn’t intend to make them hers.
She liked his home. It wasn’t too big and it wasn’t too small. It was just the right size and fit for him. A she headed back toward the front, she could imagine him on one of his off days, lounging around the house, shirtless, in his bare feet and wearing a pair of shorts while sipping a beer. That definitely made for a sexy fantasy.
She followed the scent of grilling meat and for the first time noticed the terrace off the kitchen. She walked through the double French doors to find him manning the grill. “It’s nice out here,” she said, looking around and drawing in a deep breath of the night air.
“I think so, too,” he said, turning a huge steak on the grill. “I had planned to grill tomorrow, so you’re in luck that I had the meat marinating.”
She chuckled. “Lucky me. Do you need help with anything?”
“No. Potatoes are done, and I’ve made a salad.”
She raised a brow. “Boy, you’re fast.”
He glanced over at her, and she felt the heat of his gaze as it trailed over her. “Depends on what I’m doing.”
And with whom, she thought. Instead of speaking those thoughts aloud, she said, “Mind if I sit over here and watch you?”
“No, not at all. Help yourself. And you can tell me how your first day as lieutenant went.”
Joy eased into one of the patio chairs and found it to be very comfortable. From where she sat, she could see many buildings in historic downtown.
“Do you come out here often? To sit?”
“Yes. Practically every night I’m here. No matter the temperature. This terrace was one of the main things that sold me on the idea of buying this place.”
“What were the others?”
“Its proximity to the historic district. I love it there with the brick streets and sidewalks, the quaint shops and the old-fashioned light posts. I’ve got a good view from here.”
“I can’t help but notice.” She took another sip of her cider. “The chief had already made the announcement about my promotion before I arrived, so today was rather interesting. But I’ll survive.”
“You’ll do more than survive. You’ll be the best police lieutenant this city has ever had. I’m counting on you, and I know you won’t let me down.”
She chuckled. It felt good to know someone believed in her abilities. “Thanks. I’ll have to become a jack-of-all-trades to handle my cases as well as supervising other detectives.”
“How do you feel about doing that?” he asked, then sipped his beer from the bottle.
She shrugged. “It’s all part of my job now and I enjoy what I do, so I think things will go great.”
“I understand that case you’re working—the one involving the woman found frozen—now involves a celebrity’s sister.”
“It does. Jane Doe has been identified as Mandy Clay. Sister of reality TV star Sunnie Clay. I’m getting bad vibes with this case. Of the five surrogate agencies in the city, none of them claim to have known Mandy Clay.”
“There’s always a possibility she worked privately for someone.”
“Yes, that’s a possibility. If it was legal, then why doesn’t the doctor who prescribed her the drug Epinnine come forward? Unless something about her surrogacy wasn’t on the up and up.” She drew in a deep breath, deciding not to overthink anything. Especially not tonight. And definitely not now. She didn’t even want to consider what Oliver Effington’s blunder tonight could mean.
She blinked when Stonewall came and sat in the chair opposite her. “You were in deep thought,” he said.
She smiled. “Just for a minute.”
Suddenly the sound of Ray Charles came through the speakers. She glanced around. When she looked back over at Stonewall, he held up a remote and said, “You use yours to start your fireplace, and I use mine to control my music.”
“Gadgetry. Whatever works.”
“At the moment, you’re working for me, Joy, and that’s no gadgetry.”
“Then what is it?”
He smiled. “The absolute truth.”
* * *
STONEWALL TOOK ANOTHER sip of his beer as he watched
Joy. He wouldn’t deny the fact that he’d brought other women here to his home, but he would deny ever having them get next to him on the same level that Joy did. He couldn’t recall them getting to him on any level other than the bedroom. Even that couldn’t compare to her. The thought of her waking up in his bed sent a hard humming of lust through his veins.
“The meat smells good,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
“Wait until you taste it.” He wondered why every word spoken between them made him think of the hot, rolling-in-the-sheets kind of sex. Especially when his head was between her legs. He shifted in his chair when his erection pressed hard against his zipper.
“So why where you at Shady Reds?”
“Quasar and I went there for dinner. Striker joined us. He came back from his honeymoon yesterday.”
She nodded. “And then they left you there, or did they overhear Darrin and Whit’s conversation, as well?”
He took a sip of his beer and then said, “They’d left. Striker was in a rush to get home to Margo, and Quasar needed to leave since Randi was coming in for the weekend. According to Quasar, Randi plans to stay through Monday to meet with the FBI. Specifically, Special Agent Felton. I think they might want her help after she helped solve the Erickson case.”
Joy grunted. “Agent Felton was the man who gave Randi a hard time when she was using her psychic powers to assist law enforcement to find that assassin. He tried belittling her every chance he got. I was there. I know.”
“Well, I guess now he sees things differently since she helped solve the Erickson’s case...except that one small piece as to who killed him. The Feds still don’t have a clue, and they’re hoping Randi can help.”
“So they won’t continue to look incompetent.”
“Umm, do I detect no love lost between the two agencies?”
She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just say they have a tendency to try stepping on our toes, and we manage to step back.”
Stonewall stood. “Well, I hope Randi is able to help. Although some might feel that he did the city a favor by killing Erickson, it should still bother everyone that a killer is still out there.”
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